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Industry & Manufacturing

The Museum's collections document centuries of remarkable changes in products, manufacturing processes, and the role of industry in American life. In the bargain, they preserve artifacts of great ingenuity, intricacy, and sometimes beauty.

The carding and spinning machinery built by Samuel Slater about 1790 helped establish the New England textile industry. Nylon-manufacturing machinery in the collections helped remake the same industry more than a century later. Machine tools from the 1850s are joined by a machine that produces computer chips. Thousands of patent models document the creativity of American innovators over more than 200 years.

The collections reach far beyond tools and machines. Some 460 episodes of the television series Industry on Parade celebrate American industry in the 1950s. Numerous photographic collections are a reminder of the scale and even the glamour of American industry.

This shaper was built by Ezra Gould in his Newark, New Jersey shop, the shop later became Gould and Eberhardt, a major builder of machine tools. This shaper was used to machine flat surfaces in metal. On a shaper the cutting tool moves and the workpiece stays stationary. Conversely, in a planer the workpiece moves and the cutting tool stays stationary. This design difference allows for precise work on small pieces. This shaper could plane 6 inches long and 14 inches wide.

Gloucester fishermen working on the North Atlantic were exposed to harsh weather conditions. Waves and freezing rain splashed over the decks and into the dories while the men worked. For some measure of protection, fishermen in the 19th century wore oiled clothes, the precursors to today’s waterproof foul weather gear.

This hat, referred to as a “Cape Ann sou’wester” because of its wide use in the fisheries around Cape Ann, Mass., is made of soft oiled canvas and lined with flannel. It has an elongated brim in the back to keep water from running down the wearer’s neck and inside his clothing. Ear flaps for warmth are also part of the hat’s design.

A catalog from the 1883 International Fisheries Exhibition in London claimed that with the sou’wester, “no class of seamen were so comfortably clothed as the New England fishermen.” At the time of the exhibition’s opening, sou’westers cost about $6.50 per dozen.

This Cape Ann sou’wester was displayed at the London exhibition, courtesy of its manufacturer, A. J. Tower of Boston, Mass. It was part of a display of the latest gear used and worn by American fishermen.

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Benaiah Fitts, of Worcester, Massachusetts, August 9, 1859, no. 25005.

The model represents a globular valve in which a conical rotor uncovers a port in a conical seat. It operates without a stuffing box and is designed so that the pressure of steam on the rotor is balanced, reducing friction to a minimum.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Andrew J. Peavey of Boston, Massachusetts, August 16, 1870, no. 106400.

The model represents a stationary cylinder filled with oil within which turns a paddle wheel driven by the engine at a speed dependent upon the velocity of the engine. Also within the stationary cylinder and surrounding the paddle wheel is a hollow cylinder, which is hung loosely upon the shaft of the paddle wheel and is free to revolve independently of it. This cylinder has a series of blades or abutments projecting from the inner side of its rim, so that as the paddle wheel causes the oil to revolve in the cylinder the moving oil will come into contact with the abutments and tend to turn the loose cylinder. Attached to the loose cylinder is a pinion that meshes with a toothed sector, which, in turn, is connected with the counterweight and so tends to oppose the turning of that cylinder. As the height to which the counterweight will be raised is a function of the velocity of the engine, this velocity can be governed by properly connecting the counterweight to the cut-off or throttle valve.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Henry Collinson, Boston, Massachusetts, April 13, 1875, no. 161934.

The invention consists of a lid or cover with a true flat face arranged in such a manner that while being forced home against a flat seat it receives a sliding and rotating motion thereon.

The model represents an opening in a plate around which is formed a flat plane face, which forms a seat for the dish –shaped lid or cover. A curved bar of metal spans the opening over the cover and supports a threaded nut through which passes a T-handled screw by which the cover is forced against the seat. At the inner end of the screw is an eccentric head that fits in a recess in the center of the cover, so that turning the screw forces the cover against the seat and moves the center of the cover in a circle, while the friction causes the cover to rotate somewhat about its own center. The result is a combined sliding and rotating of the cover as it is forced against the seat.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the patent issued to Lucius J. Knowles, of Worcester, Massachusetts, April 1, 1879, no. 231823.

The model represents the steam cylinders of a duplex pump fitted with what the inventor calls auxiliary engines to operate the valves of each cylinder when it is desired to use one cylinder of a duplex pump without the other. Actually the piston of the auxiliary engine is the valve of the main cylinder and the invention is in effect a one cylinder “simplex” pump with steam-actuated valve. This is one of the earliest uses of the steam-actuated valve for steam pumps.

The auxiliary cylinder forms the steam chest and valve ports of the main cylinder while the auxiliary piston acts as the valve. The auxiliary piston has its own valve system, which consists of ports in the auxiliary cylinder wall connected to the main steam passages and so located that they will register with openings in the auxiliary piston when the auxiliary piston is given a slight twist at the end of the main piston’s stroke. These openings connect to passages in the auxiliary cylinder to cause the auxiliary piston to move to the other end of the cylinder and so reverse the stroke of the main piston.

Lucius James Knowles (July 2, 1819 – February 26, 1884) originated and developed the Knowles Steam Pump Co. and the L. J. Knowles & Brother Loom Works at Warren, Massachusetts, and Worcester, Massachusetts, both of which became leading organizations in their respective fields. The Knowles steam pump was one of the best known of the direct-acting pumps, and Knowles is recognized as having contributed much to the final development and refinement of the device. He was one of the first to take up and develop the steam-actuated valve and received several patents for his inventions of improvements in valves.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This model was submitted with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the Patent no. 46084, issued to Moses G. Crane, of Newtown, Massachusetts, January 31, 1865.

This engine consists of one vertical work cylinder and two pump or air-transfer cylinders connected to two furnaces. In operation two separate quantities of air are used repeatedly. One quantity of air is circulated between one furnace and the upper end of the work cylinder by one of the air pumps, while the other charge of air is supplied from the other furnace to the lower end of the work cylinder. In each case the air is heated in the furnace, transferred to the work cylinder, allowed to expand doing work against the piston, and is then returned to the furnace by the pump, to be reheated. The pump pistons and valves are actuated by slotted bell cranks on the ends of the engine crankshaft.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Louis D. Bartlett, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, January 15, 1867, no. 61141.

The patent refers to an engine with separate valve chests at head end and crank end, each enclosing balanced steam and exhaust poppet valves, and describes particularly the construction of the valve boxes. These are designed for simplicity of casting, machining, and accessibility but are difficult to describe without reference to the drawings in the patent specifications. The valve gear is said to be similar to one described in a patent granted to Charles H. Brown and Charles Burleigh, January 15, 1856. The valve stems are operated by short levers, which are raised and lowered by cams on a lay shaft paralleling the cylinder. The levers that operated the steam valves have variable fulcrums, which are controlled by a governor so that the steam can be cut off at any point of the stroke.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Joseph W. Fowle, of Boston, Massachusetts, August 14, 1877, no. 194037.

The model represents a 1-cylinder, vertical marine engine connected to a propeller shaft and propeller in the ordinary manner, with a float or inertia device for closing the throttle valve of the engine each time the vessel in which the engine is installed pitches sufficiently to raise the propeller out of the water.

The gear consists of a heavy weight suspended in suitable guides and stops near the keel of the ship. This weight is not rigidly fixed relative to the ship but tends to float in position as the vessel rises and falls. The change in relative positions actuates a valve lever on an auxiliary steam cylinder and piston, which, in turn, moves the main throttle valve of the engine.

Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.

This indicator was filed to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for patent no. 219149 issued to G. H. Crosby, September 2, 1879.

The model cannot be disassembled and the piston is stuck in the cylinder. It consists of a large drum with spiral spring and single record, but the linkage is different from the other Crosby indicators in the collection: a spring releases to move the drum back away from the pencil print.

The improvements claimed for this design are a jacket about the steam cylinder to prevent radiation or loss of heat from the cylinder; a method of supporting the cylinder and jacket so that each might expand freely when heated; the carrying of the rotary drum on a lever so that it could be moved up to and away from the marker; and a peculiar parallel motion for effecting the straight line motion of the marker in which “the lever is connected with the piston-rod by a join, and not indirectly by a link, as in the Richards indicator.”*

An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.

A mechanical indicator consists of a piston, spring, stylus, and recording system. The gas pressure of the cylinder deflects the piston and pushes against the spring, creating a linear relationship between the gas pressure and the deflection of the piston against the spring. The deflection is recorded by the stylus on a rotating drum that is connected to the piston. Most indicators incorporate a mechanical linkage to amplify the movement of the piston to increase the scale of the record.

When the ratio of the frequency of the pressure variation to the natural frequency of the system is small, then the dynamic deflection is equal to the static deflection. To design a system with a high natural frequency, the mass of the piston, spring, stylus, and mechanical linkage must be small, but the stiffness of the spring must be high. The indicator is subjected to high temperatures and pressures and rapid oscillations, imposing a limitation on the reduction in mass. Too stiff a spring will result in a small displacement of the indicator piston and a record too small to measure with accuracy. Multiplication of the displacement will introduce mechanical ad dynamic errors.

The parameters of the problem for designing an accurate and trouble free recorder are such that there is no easy or simple solution. Studying the variety of indicators in the collection shows how different inventors made different compromises in their designs.

*Reference:

This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.